Olympics Chief Shuns Comparison With Paralympics On Russian Doping

August 09, 2016 04:39 GMT

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Olympics Chief Shuns Comparison With Paralympics On Russian Doping

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International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach rejected comparisons of his group, which decided against barring Russia from the Rio Olympics over doping, to the Paralympics governing body that imposed a total ban.

The International Paralympic Committee only had to ban one federation -- the Paralympic Committee of Russia -- while the IOC had to decide the fate of competitors from 28 different international sports, Bach said.

"It is a different situation and therefore a different decision," Bach said on August 8. "The IPC has just only one member federation in Russia."

The Paralympics body made headlines on August 7 when it banned Russia from the Rio games due to start next month. Its leader, Philip Craven, voiced disgust at the state-orchestrated doping uncovered by the World Anti-Doping Agency in July.

Bach noted that the IOC supported decisions by two federations -- the International Weightlifting Federation and the International Federation of Athletics Associations -- to impose blanket bans on Russian athletes.

But he stressed it would not have been "justice" to ban all Russian athletes -- clean ones as well as those who used drugs.